Venice Museums

A must for anyone with even the slightest interest in art! The former church and convent of Santa Maria della Carita, with additions by Palladio, hosts a collection that follows the progression of Venetiatian art from teh 14th to the 18th centuries. Inside are such works as: Giorgione's La Tempesta, Paolo Veronese's Fest in the House of Levi, may works by Titian including Pieta and Presentation of the Virgin. The core of the collection was assembled in 1756The interesting collection of buildings house an extensive collection, including many works that are quite tremendous in size and cover entire walls. The Feast in the House of Levi was particularly impressive. Artists that are featured prominently include Vittorio Carpaccio, Jacopo Robusti detto Tintoretto, Gentile Bellini, Giovanni Bellini and Giorgio da Castelfranco detto Giorgione.

The design and initial building work on the Napoleonic Wing dates from the years when Venice was part of that Kingdom of Italy (1806-1814) of which Napoleon was sovereign and his stepson, Eugene de Beauharnais, was Viceroy. The Museum is laid out in various sections that offer a fascinating insight into the Art and History of Venice. The first section occupies the Napoleonic Wing itself, a nineteenth-century palace for kings and emperors; here the sumptuous Neo-classical Rooms house a noteworthy collection of works by the greatest sculptor of the age, Antonio Canova (1757-1822). Then, one passes into the Procuratie Nuove, which were designed by the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi (1552-1616) and once housed some of the most important civic authorities within the Republic of Venice. The spacious rooms now contain collections that document various aspects of Venetian History – from daily life to public instutions, from naval achievements to local festivities.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is the most important museum in Italy for European and American art of the first half of the 20th century. It is located in Peggy Guggenheim's former home, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on the Grand Canal in Venice. Opened in 1951 by the niece of Solomon R Guggenheim, wealthy American industrialist and art collector, the museum presents Peggy Guggenheim's personal collection of 20th century art, masterpieces from the Gianni Mattioli collection, the Nasher Sculpture Garden, as well as temporary exhibitions. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is owned and operated by the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, which also operates the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin, Guggenheim-Hermitage Las Vegas.

The International Gallery of Modern Art contains important nineteenth- and twentieth-century collections of paintings and sculptures, including masterpieces by Klimt, Chagall and remarkable works by such artists as Kandinsky, Klee, Matisse and Moore, as well as a rich selection of works by Italian artists and an important section of graphic art.
The lay-out has been completely redesigned, along with the information-apparatus, and it provides an illuminating introduction to a crucial period in art-history.

The museum retraces the Venetian life lie it was in the 18th century. A lot of treasures, assembled since 1934, furniture, paintings and decorative objects found in numerous villas and Venetian palaces. You can visit a gigantic ballroom, enhanced by a series of remarkable architectural perspectives, a throne room with an admirable rococo ceiling painted by Tiepolo, the last of the great Venetian decorators. You ca dream about the fastuous Venice period when Casanova organized its famous orgies, games, balls, masquerades.